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Saturday, February 27, 2016

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - Until It's Right by Jamie Howard

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Until It's Right

Release date: March 1st, 2016

Author: Jamie Howard

St. Martin's Press

About the book:

Haley Mitchell is tired of moping. With her broken heart repaired with a thick layer of duct tape, she’s ready to put her ex behind her and move on. After a chance encounter in a club, she’s convinced she’s met Mr. Perfect. But when he accidentally gives her the wrong number, the stranger on the other end of her texts becomes her confidant.

Kyle Lawson has always had more luck with computers than women. So when the new temp, Haley, arrives, he has the misfortune of falling for her, only to land firmly in the friend zone. But when he learns the mysterious woman he’s been texting is actually Haley, he keeps the entire thing a secret.

As things move straight from platonic to decidedly hot, Kyle must come clean about his secret texting identity and risk losing the woman he’s fallen in love with.

I loved this book so much that I ended up highlighting and adding more notes than I usually do. So I’ll start this review with my first and last note:

“OMG, he’s so adorable”

“OMG I’m so in love with this book!!!”

That pretty much sums up my experience. Kyle is adorable. This book is great. As simple as that. So, I don’t know what you’re doing right now, but you need to stop it and go read this.

Seriously, I absolutely loved it.

So, here we go… From my review of Jamie Howard’s debut UNTIL WE BREAK, you know her writing made me feel. Angry, mostly, but still. With her second, the feelings were just as intense, but much, much happier.

In a way, UNTIL IT’S RIGHT is the exact opposite of this author’s debut. It’s so sweet and cute that I felt like hugging it – and its characters most of the time.

Haley comes back as the main character and I’m glad I get to know her a little better. In UWB, Haley was the girl who got screwed over so many times she’s still recovering from all that shit that went down. She’s moved away from Luke & Cia, and is now sharing an apartment with a friend (not sure her friend was part of the first book. Can’t remember). She’s also starting a new temp job soon. But most of all, she’s looking for a new guy who’ll make her forget Luke.

I felt sorry for her while reading UWB. I truly did. So it made me happy to see her moving on and searching for true love. After everything Luke and Sloane put her through, I can’t think of anyone else who deserves it more. And things are looking good since she meets this super hot guy and they hit it off. Phone numbers are exchanged and all that. I was all “YAY, go girl”.

But then Kyle happens. It quickly turns into “YAY, go boy!” because Kyle is that awesome.

See… The phone number Haley got the night she met super hot guy? Not his. But the person texting her back is cool and has a great sense of humor. Did you guess it already? Probably did if you read the blurb. Kyle is the one getting Haley’s texts. And he makes it clear from the start that he isn’t super hot guy, which was the first sign I’d grow to love him. He could’ve easily pretended to be who she thought, but he didn’t. Because Kyle is that awesome.

You know what else? Kyle and Haley actually work together. He’s the IT guy at the new temp job she’s starting. They meet and start having lunch together almost every day, and it’s cute and adorable and my next comment was:

“They’re adorable”

Because my comments on Kindle are that helpful and repetitive. I don’t care.

Anyway… Pretty soon Kyle realizes the mysterious text girl is Haley, but how is he going to tell her that? Without reading the story first, you can roll your eyes and think: Just freaking tell her already. Easy, huh? By Jamie Howard is great at exploring her characters’ self-doubt and she was pretty brilliant inserting things here and there that gave Kyle (and the reader) pause. *claps*

The thing is… Kyle risks losing the girl he’s falling for by telling her the truth. And at this point I’m so in love with him and the idea of them as a couple that I don’t want him to tell her because it’ll break my heart. I know. It’s awful, but I’m selfish and in love so leave me alone.

You may ask me, why are you writing a thesis here? And why are you so in love with Kyle?

Dude! It’s so hard to find nice, nerdy and cute love interests in the book world that when I do I fall hard. And I’m head over heels in love with this character. He made my book boyfriend list – check my bookshelves. And you see the “we-should-be-friends” one there? That’s also for Kyle. I want to be his friend. Why isn’t he real?

I’ll be honest here and say, if you’re looking for super sexy male characters, Kyle isn’t your best bet. But if you’re looking for boyfriend material, you came to the right place. I can’t say much more because it’ll take away from the experience of reading and meeting him, but it’s worth it. Go meet Kyle, but remember, he’s mine. And since I was the first to post a review on Goodreads, I’m calling dibs.

Okay.. So this review turned into a love letter to Kyle, but that happens. It’s a statement to how much I enjoyed this book. And maybe you won’t fall for Kyle the way I did, but there are still so many things right with this book that it’ll keep you interested and wanting to read more. Haley is a pretty great protagonist, the romance is the cutest thing in the planet, the characters are flawed and complex, Kyle’s relationship (and bromance) with his brother is amazing, Haley’s friends and roommate are the kind of friends most girls hope to have, and the list goes on. Oh, the sex is hot, too. Can’t believe I forgot that one.

Another thing I loved about this was how there wasn’t a clear right or wrong answer to these characters’ problems. Should Kyle have told Haley the truth? Should Haley have chosen the path she did all those years ago when it comes to her family? Should she have slapped Sloane when she saw her? The answer to the last one is easy, but the rest? Not so much.

I guess what I’m saying is: Thank you, Jamie Howard for creating Kyle and for writing this book. And please make me the president of Kyle’s fan club. Please?